One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on May 09, 2010, 02:04:30 AM
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Punt Road woes compound suffering
CAROLINE WILSON
May 9, 2010
THE Richmond Football Club, having again sunk to the bottom of the AFL ladder and looking entrenched there, is facing another crisis.
The Tigers are running out of time in their decade-long campaign to relocate the Richmond Cricket Club from Punt Road and almost certainly face another summer, possibly two, away from their home ground and unable to configure the oval to AFL size without the intrusion of practice wickets and the massive pitch in the centre of the ground.
While Essendon CEO Ian Robson made headlines this week by threatening to relocate the club away from Windy Hill, the Bombers are close to a deal with their cricket club. Their new ground will be the same size as the MCG. Richmond is aiming for Etihad Stadium proportions.
And it seems inconceivable that the picturesque adjoining lawn bowls establishment at Essendon will withstand the pressure of one of the country's most powerful clubs.
But the Tigers, long criticised for dwelling in the VFL while the rest of the competition went national, are mired in a thicket of bureaucracy dating back decades. Having agreed to a shortsighted deal with the Victorian government in the 1980s, which allowed the widening of Punt Road and reduction of the oval in return for government sponsorship via the Quit and TAC campaigns, the club desperately needs to expand the ground to make it fit for training.
Two years ago, AFL chief Andrew Demetriou described the ground's surface as ''crap'', but club CEO Brendon Gale admitted several days ago that even if cricket was to be relocated and the wickets dug up, the ground would not be ready to train on until the start of next season.
And that now looks a near impossibility. Shortly before Gale took over, Richmond believed it had reached a deal with Yarra Council to relocate the cricket club to Collingwood's old home, Victoria Park. Everyone seemed happy with the arrangement until the vote took place and the councillors voted against the move.
Soon afterwards, the Magpies, with impeccable timing, announced the Collingwood reserves would be returning to Abbotsford to play their home games at Vic Park.
Incredibly, given the magnitude of AFL football and Richmond's estimated $30 million turnover in comparison with district cricket, the Richmond Cricket Club is the leaseholder at Punt Road under the management of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
The only good news for the Tigers is that while the co-tenants have been at loggerheads for a good part of the last decade, the relationship has improved. But while Jim Higgs and his RCC colleagues appear at least willing to co-operate to find a new home, the search, which has been overseen by Gale's No. 2, Michael Stahl, has been fruitless.
Richmond is now one of three AFL clubs being strangled by its own history. Essendon's story has been well documented and its cricket team seemingly ready to co-operate, while at North Melbourne, the cricket club's lease is due to expire and the pitch relegated to history.
The Melbourne Football Club, having missed its chance in the Olympic Park precinct the first time around, will soon relocate and train in the area without suffering the indignity of training without goal posts, as it was forced to do at the Junction Oval over the early rounds of the 2010 season.
So once again, the Tigers have been left behind and, despite their multimillion-dollar redevelopment due for completion by the start of summer and a smart new second home at Craigieburn, seem unlikely to be training unencumbered at their geographically appealing headquarters for several years to come. And unlike the Bombers, they cannot even threaten to walk away from Tigerland. There is far too much at stake now for that.
Like every other AFL club in Victoria, Richmond has been the beneficiary of millions of state and federal government dollars, and now, finally, the Tigers appear to understand the gravity of their football circumstances and how long ahead lies the road to success. The AFL appears to be backing the club and their membership is healthy.
How on earth such a stalemate exists between two sports and clubs of such varying magnitude, when even Cricket Australia has indicated it would move the Sheffield Shield final to make way for an early start to the AFL season, seems incomprehensible. In a city built on village greens, surely there is a another ground somewhere.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/punt-road-woes-compound-suffering-20100508-ukyj.html
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A frustrating situation no doubt.
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why did the club start the redevelopment when these issues were not completed?
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why did the club start the redevelopment when these issues were not completed?
Poor management
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why did the club start the redevelopment when these issues were not completed?
Poor management
Absolute CRAP on this you have no idea
Read the 7th paragraph again and hopefully you can comprehend it :banghead :banghead
Using one of your favourite sayings what Caro has written there is FACT
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why did the club start the redevelopment when these issues were not completed?
Poor management
Absolute CRAP on this you have no idea
Read the 7th paragraph again and hopefully you can comprehend it :banghead :banghead
Using one of your favourite sayings what Caro has written there is FACT
WP, why cant you see there are some serious issues at Punt Rd ?
Like the majority of the football community can see, the RFC has some real serious issues.
Maybe you cant see ,as you are""one eyed""
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Besides there being an element that seems hell bent on destabilising the club, what are these issues you refer to Jack?
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
Caro would be a better President than March.
At least she has got balls :thumbsup
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
Caro would be a better President than March.
At least she has got balls :thumbsup
if she's president will she shut up?
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
Caro would be a better President than March.
At least she has got balls :thumbsup
She hasn't got balls - she's a sniper. If she had balls she would put herself up for a role at the club instead of using her position to push her campaign of undermining and backstabbing. Gutless and bitter.
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
Caro would be a better President than March.
At least she has got balls :thumbsup
She hasn't got balls - she's a sniper. If she had balls she would put herself up for a role at the club instead of using her position to push her campaign of undermining and backstabbing. Gutless and bitter.
You people are deluded.
Would say that 95% in what she writes is correct
She was on the money with the Cousins thing earlier this year.
The truth does hurt unfortunately
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You people are deluded.
Would say that 95% in what she writes is correct
lol more likely when she agrees with you ::)
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She hasn't got balls - she's a sniper. If she had balls she would put herself up for a role at the club instead of using her position to push her campaign of undermining and backstabbing. Gutless and bitter.
You people are deluded.
Would say that 95% in what she writes is correct
She was on the money with the Cousins thing earlier this year.
The truth does hurt unfortunately
Nothing at all to do with it Jack. She is a gutless sniper. Whether she is writing the truth or crap isn't the point here. Instead of taking cheap and continual shots from behind her keyboard, why doesn't she step up and run for the board? Or offer her services to the club in a manner that she can commit to? Or at least go and attack other clubs with the same passion and energy? Nope, she has a bitter personal agenda and is just a gutless sniper.
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why did the club start the redevelopment when these issues were not completed?
Poor management
Absolute CRAP on this you have no idea
Read the 7th paragraph again and hopefully you can comprehend it :banghead :banghead
Using one of your favourite sayings what Caro has written there is FACT
those facts should have been in writing. comments like "we believed we reached a deal" is not fact and another poor decision by our club.
can we get anything right
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daniel, you are correct
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Caro pushing her agendas again. ::)
Caro would be a better President than March.
At least she has got balls :thumbsup
Well given she's not a member... she can't be
Thank God
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those facts should have been in writing. comments like "we believed we reached a deal" is not fact and another poor decision by our club.
can we get anything right
daniel, you are correct
No - you are both incorrect
Have you ever dealt with local councils? One of the greatest "non events" in a democracy?
Local councils can promise the world verbally but cannot and will not put anything in writing until the council votes. They promise you their vote and then when "crunch time" comes, they fold like a pack of cards because they are full of cowards. That's is what happened in this case FACT.
And Jack - I very much aware of the problems at Richmond but I responded to your comment where you said that this council back flip was the result of poor management by the RFC. I will repeat that is absolute CRAP.
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Have you ever dealt with local councils? One of the greatest "non events" in a democracy?
Local councils can promise the world verbally but cannot and will not put anything in writing until the council votes. They promise you their vote and then when "crunch time" comes, they fold like a pack of cards because they are full of cowards. That's is what happened in this case FACT.
Never a truer word spoken. Ever tried getting approval for a building development through council? :banghead